Deborah Taft Appointed Senior Vice President for Fund Development

Girl Scouts of the USA announced today that Deborah Taft has been appointed senior vice president for fund development. Taft, who has more than 25 years of fund-raising and marketing experience, will join the organization on August 19.

“Deborah comes to us with a wealth of experience and know-how,” said Kathy Cloninger, Chief Executive Officer of GSUSA. “She knows how to grow a dynamic fund-raising operation and is poised to have an impact and lead our fund development initiatives at one of the most exciting moments in our Movement’s history: our 100th anniversary and our effort to make girls a philanthropic priority for the nation.”

Her professional accomplishments have run the gamut. As vice president at Simmons, Taft oversaw major, planned, corporate and foundation philanthropy programs, as well as donor relations, advancement marketing, trusteeship and governance, and the Simmons Leadership Conference. As vice president for development at Floating Hospital, she rebuilt the philanthropy operation. And in her role as senior director of development marketing for Dana-Farber, she developed an integrated fund-raising marketing and donor relations function for one of the world’s leading cancer centers, helping to lay the groundwork for the institute’s $1 billion campaign.

“There is no question Deborah Taft is a leader in the field and her tremendous track record of success bears this out,” said Timothy Higdon, Chief of External Affairs for GSUSA. “Her breadth of experience both at the strategic level and at the tactical, operational level, as well as her skill in building strong and high-performing development teams, makes her ideally suited to lead our fund-raising operation.”

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